How to execute 16-bit installer on 64-bit Win7?

windows-7 64-bit 16-bit
CJ7 picture CJ7 · Feb 2, 2012 · Viewed 141.5k times · Source

I am trying to install Sheridan controls (ActiveThreed 2.01) on Win7 64-bit, but evidently it is a 16-bit installer so it won't execute.

What would be the best way to get round this problem?

Error message

Can anyone comment on whether http://homepage3.nifty.com/takeda-toshiya/msdos/index.html would be helpful?

Answer

Betty N picture Betty N · Apr 12, 2012

It took me months of googling to find a solution for this issue. You don't need to install a virtual environment running a 32-bit version of Windows to run a program with a 16-bit installer on 64-bit Windows. If the program itself is 32-bit, and just the installer is 16-bit, here's your answer.

There are ways to modify a 16-bit installation program to make it 32-bit so it will install on 64-bit Windows 7. I found the solution on this site:

http://www.reactos.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=10988

In my case, the installation program was InstallShield 5.X. The issue was that the setup.exe program used by InstallShield 5.X is 16-bit. First I extracted the installation program contents (changed the extension from .exe to .zip, opened it and extracted). I then replaced the original 16-bit setup.exe, located in the disk1 folder, with InstallShield's 32-bit version of setup.exe (download this file from the site referenced in the above link). Then I just ran the new 32-bit setup.exe in disk1 to start the installation and my program installed and runs perfectly on 64-bit Windows.

You can also repackage this modified installation, so it can be distributed as an installation program, using a free program like Inno Setup 5.

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